Fairfield. $3 million withdrawn

The Mounties Group, operator of the Mounties club, one of the state's biggest clubs has withdrawn about $3 million it promised to build a youth centre after Fairfield City Council opposed its bid to bring 60 more poker machines to Sydney's most disadvantaged area. The group told the council it was withdrawing from an agreement it signed last year to help fund the $7.5 million centre because the council opposed its application to transfer gaming machines from two satellite clubs along the northern beaches to its Mount Pritchard base.

Regional clubs win awards

Mounties has once again been judged the best club in south western Sydney, wining two major awards and only just failing to defend its Club of the Year title for the third year running. That honour went instead to Dee-Why RSL, the win the first time a club from the North Shore has taken out the industry's most prestigious award. However, in a sign of how valued clubs are by the people of south western Sydney, Campbelltown Catholic Club was named the winner of the People's Choice award.